Do you have a spare pair of specs lying around the house? Grantham Lions Club needs your donations of unwanted glasses to help change another person’s life.

Since 1988, Lions Clubs across the country have been raising awareness about the importance of eye health and the need for quality eye care services for all.

This year, Grantham Lions Club is asking for your support for its national Sight Programme, particularly with World Sight Day just around the corner – an event which takes place on Thursday, October 13.

In just about any home, one can find a pair of eyeglasses that are no longer being used. That same pair of eyeglasses can change another person’s life. That’s why the Lions started the Recycle For Sight program, a programme which everyone can help with.

Throughout the year, Lions, Leos and other volunteers collect used eyeglasses and deliver them to regional Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centres (LERCs). LERC volunteers then clean and package the glasses, which are then distributed to people in need in low and middle income communities where they will have the greatest impact.

Linda Wootten, Mayor of Grantham, is asking for glasses to be taken into the Mayors Parlour at the Guildhall on World Sight Day – Thursday, October 13, between 9am and 2pm.

This is a great scheme for all local schools and business to get involved in, as well as individuals and families.

Grantham Lions Club president, Sandie Baker said: “I would like to encourage everyone in Grantham to support the club’s efforts on World Sight Day and to donate as many spare glasses as possible.”

To find our more about the campaign you can visit the website at www.lionsclubs.org

This October Age UK is once again calling on the people of Grantham to support its annual stock appeal, The Big Bag Challenge, by donating as many bags of quality used clothing or goods as possible.

Whether it’s a summer slip dress, last season’s sandals or toys the children have outgrown, the Age UK shop in Grantham is encouraging everyone to have a clear out and donate a bag full of unwanted items to raise much needed funds for the Charity’s work supporting older people.

Kicking off on October 3, volunteers in the Age UK Grantham shop will be on hand to receive bags of donations, with the goal of collecting 100,000 bags of goods nationwide in just two weeks. All types of quality goods are accepted, including clothing, shoes, books, accessories and homewares, all of which are sold on to be loved again.

Georgina Thorpe, assistant Manager at the Age UK Grantham shop, said: “Taking part in The Big Bag Challenge couldn’t be easier, which is why we’re asking everyone in Grantham to get involved. Simply donate at least one bag of quality items you no longer need to the Age UK shop at 31 Market Place in Grantham. With your help we can continue to support older people in the local area and across the country.”

Age UK has over 400 shops across the UK which generate much-needed funds for the Charity’s work with older people, while encouraging everyone to recycle unwanted goods.

Go to www.ageuk.org.uk to find your local store and get more information.

Funds raised will allow Age UK to continue its work supporting those who are facing later life alone, enabling the Charity to provide companionship, support and advice, as well as its free national advice line (open 365 days a year) and vital campaigning work.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, ladies from across Grantham and the surrounding area rolled out of bed and donned their best pair of trainers for the St Barnabas Early Birds Sponsored Walk.

The brand new fundraising event, which has replaced the once-popular Moonlight Walk, saw groups of women take a stroll around the grounds of Stoke Rochford Hall from 7am.

The ladies-only morning walk featured women of all ages, walking for a number of different reasons, including those looking to get fit and those who took part to remember a loved one.

Participants chose whether to go on a more leisurely route of four miles or a more challenging journey of seven miles.

St Barnabas community events fundraiser, Janie McCormick, said: “It was a great event, the sun eventually came out and everyone enjoyed themselves.

“Every single woman that took part has helped to ensure that the team at St Barnabas can provide dedicated, compassionate hospice care every day of the year.”

Just under £7,000 was raised for St Barnabas, a charity which ensures all individuals facing the end of their life in Lincolnshire receive dignified, compassionate care when they require it and where they ask for it.

The hospice hosts a number of events throughout the year, including events just like this one - helping to raise vital funds for its patients.

In October, the hospice is encouraging the local community to ‘Go Yellow’ by hosting a yellow themed fundraiser.

The Go Yellow campaign will run throughout October and businesses, schools and individuals are being encouraged to organise their own yellow themed fundraising event.

As part of the campaign, Friday, October 7 has been designated ‘Wear it Yellow Day’ with people encouraged to wear something yellow in return for a donation to the hospice.

Support has already been pledged from Siemens, Sleaford Quality Foods and Ingham Primary School.

To request a fundraising pack call 01522 540300.

I know a lot of time has passed since Dominos were asked to refrain from having guys hang around road junctions with huge advertising boards strapped to their body, but can I ask why it is that now we have Dominos occasionally having a guy in position wearing a board and a Papa Johns employing folks in Superhero costumes hanging around the KFC,Springfield Road andHarlaxton Road crossroads.

Having a huge board on a corner is one thing but having Superman or Batman with a huge board waving at you, could throw your concentration, and result in another accident and tailback.

Nigel Parkin

Hudson Way

Grantham

Am I the only one who is getting a bit fed up with the weekly lecture from from SKDC, telling us what we can and can’t put in our waste bins and where, when and how we must put our bins out?

The latest tells us that we can’t put fruit, vegetables, specifically windfall apples, in the green garden waste bin. Of course, we pay an extra premium for this service, but I’m beginning to wonder why.

SKDC’s website says that we can put plants in the green bin, but not fruit, vegetables or food. I grow my own vegetables and at this time of year, towards the end of the growing season, I have plants to dispose of, some I compost, but not all, and I am left a bit confused by the policy.

Are SKDC seriously suggesting that I can put my old tomato plants in the green bin, but not any of the tomatoes? What about cabbages and other vegetable plants that don’t quite make the grade? They are plants, so by definition they can go in, but hang on, they are also vegetables, so they are edible and that makes them food, so therefore they can’t.

Time and time again, SKDC move the goal posts, making it more and more difficult to recycle. We used to be able to put clothes and textiles in the grey bin, but not anymore.

The list of things that can go in both the green and grey bin gets ever smaller with nearly every lecture in the paper inviting us do SKDC’s job for them by taking them to the local recycling points yourself. Thanks, I’d love to, but actually, I’m paying my council tax for you to do it.

Here’s a novel idea, how about SKDC, provide a decent service? Fulfilling their legal responsibility to take away my rubbish, from my home and when they’ve done that, how about putting my bin back, where I left it, somewhere in the general direction of my house.

Other councils around the region do a much better job than SKDC, and I suspect that their ridiculous, pedantic, poorly thought out policies do nothing to prevent fly tipping and overflowing bins throughout the town, as householders seek other ways to dispose of their rubbish when the council won’t take it away.

So what if there’s an extra black bag out next to the bin on collection day, so what if there are a few apples in the top of someone’s green bin, is that really a valid reason for not taking it?

Now, I like to try to recycle as much as the next man, but from now on, until SKDC stop lecturing me, and sort themselves out, my approach will be simple, I guarantee that my black bin will be very full, each and every time it is collected, but my grey or green bin probably won’t be.

Name and address supplied

Thousands of people gathered in Grantham town centre this evening (Saturday) for the third Gravity Fields festival.

Performers, displays, music and more were held across the town, including in St Peter’s Hill, Market Place, Westgate and St Wulfram’s Church.

Here’s a video of the procession through the town, watched by thousands of people.

* More coverage will be published on the website throughout the week.

St Wulfram’s Church was transformed into ‘The Pleasure Garden Experiment’ for tonight’s ‘Ingenious Night Out’.

Circus and street artists mixed with colourful mood lighting to entertain the hundreds of families who entered the churchyard.

Performers, displays, music and more were held across the town this evening, including in St Peter’s Hill, Market Place and Westgate.

Here’s a video showing just some of the entertainment at St Wulfram’s Church.

* More coverage will be published on the website throughout the week.

Tonight’s ‘Ingenious Night Out’ built to a crescendo of colour and fireworks.

Performing arts company Cirque Bijou – the same theatre company which provided the centre piece to the first festival four years ago – put on a show featuring LED umbrellas on St Peter’s Hill.

The crowd of thousands were then treated to a spectacular display of fireworks from the Guildhall.

Performers, displays, music and more were held across the town this evening, including in St Peter’s Hill, Market Place and Westgate.

Here’s a video showing part of Cirque Bijou’s performance.

* More coverage will be published on the website throughout the week.

Isaac Newton’s early education at Woolsthorpe, then Grantham’s Kings’ School, were his stepping stones to Trinity College Cambridge.

We must now not forget that Kings’ School in the 17th century was a grammar school, built by Henry VIII much earlier, to teach arithmetic, geometry, history, Latin and scripture, and was very similar to today’s controversial grammars.

The question I therefore have is can our future geniuses, or even poets, thrive without these schools?

Whatever the answer, here’s my tribute to the great man.

1642

Sixteen forty-two, that fateful Christmas day,

Sixteen forty-two, they all began to pray.

Country mired in civil strife,

Roundheads, Royalists fought for life.

A star appeared in Lincolnshire heralding a son,

a giant was born but no one knew that he would be the one.

Sickly baby’s mother, thankful prayers and joy,

Father though died before, never saw his boy.

Christened just Isaac in praise of father’s name,

With Newton though that name preceded his eventual fame.

Abandoned by his mother, tender age of three,

Maybe trauma made the baby what he came to be.

In Grantham he studied at Kings’ Grammar school,

As head boy was seen as nobody’s fool.

And then on to Cambridge and BA degree,

Rhis polymath also became an MP.

Laws he invented for light, force and motion,

His fame now did spread across nations and ocean.

Then there’s that apple’s descent from that tree,

‘Eureka’ he said and that’s ‘Gravity’.

Rod Hatherill

Lodge Way

Grantham

The Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police has spoken out about concerns over ambulance cover in the county after his officers had to ferry patients to hospital overnight.

Chief Constable Neil Rhodes put out an exasperated message on his Twitter feed at 12.15am this morning (Sunday): “Officers from both Lincoln and Boston ended up working as ambulances last night. EMAS needs to be properly resourced.”

Pete Ripley Associate Director of Operations at East Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We work closely with our colleagues in the police to ensure that patients they encounter are properly assessed by our control team to determine what response they need. We are in contact with Lincolnshire Police to understand which incidents they are referring to.”

It was believed there had been two incidents last night where police officers had attended and then felt the need to transport the patient to hospital themselves. It was stressed they had not be sent out instead of an ambulance.

A campaign group on Twitter called Fighting 4 Grantham Hospital, battling to reverse the overnight closure of its A and E department, weighed into the debate, drawing attention to an account from a Grantham Police officer from last night.

He is quoted as saying: “As a cop I had to deal with someone semi-conscious with significant injuries who really needed medical help. I called for an ambulance, told no ambulances available. Waited almost an hour, still no ambulance available despite pleading again and again for assistance.

“Previously we’d have just taken the person ourselves the short distance to A&E to avoid delay, but now we can’t because we can’t justify the 90 minute, 70 mile round trip every time to Lincoln Hospital. Because we have no A&E at night we now have to rely more on ambulance for assistance which sadly we just don’t get.

“On this particular occasion the person had to be carried to a taxi and taken to Lincoln Hospital and this I’m afraid will soon become the norm.

“As a cop who joined the police to help people I’m so sorry it has come to this.”

* The Standard has contacted the Chief Constable and Lincolnshire Police to comment further on this matter but is awaiting a response at this time.

I am pleased to be able to report we have had some initial success in the fight to retain proper services at Grantham hospital.

The unacceptable situation of the hospital doors closing at 6.30pm has now been amended so that local people can now directly access medical professionals at the hospital until 11.30pm.

I am grateful to the NHS, in particular local GPs, the South West CCG and LCHS in recognising our concerns about total overnight closure and putting measures in place to partially address the gap during the temporary A&E stoppage.

However, this should not distract us from the main campaign to retain a full range of services at the hospital. It is equally important that the campaign remains cross party and non-political.

At last Friday’s meeting of all Lincolnshire county councillors, there was a unanimous vote to support keeping comprehensive A&E services at the hospital.

Working together and engaging robustly with the NHS we will hopefully deliver an outcome whereby the town keeps a comprehensive hospital service, appropriate to serve the 120,000 local people.

Coun Martin Hill

Leader of Lincolnshire

County Council

A Grantham woman has devised a fun and practical way to learn the times tables which has been been praised by children and teachers.

Debbie Wicks, of Gonerby Hill Foot, started devising her special grids to help children learn the tables when her own boys were growing up and struggling with them.

Debbie has called her system the Wix Way Times Tables Learning System and has put together a book.

She has also taught children in school using the system, with the backing of staff.

Debbie, who is not a trained teacher, was a dinner lady at Harrowby Infant School when she was given the chance to teach some of the children who needed extra support at sister school National Junior.

Debbie said: “The kids follow a system and after three or four goes they pick it up. I think kids need confidence. When they suddenly know the answers they are full of pride and say ‘pick me!’ when you ask the questions.”

Debbie says her system is very visual and contains lots of little tricks. “They can see things there that will help them. I have had great responses from the kids and the teachers.”

Debbie says her system works much better than the rote system – a method of learning by repetition – which schools use. She says children are easily bored by the rote system whereas her system introduces interesting visuals to stimulate the children. She says it has worked 100 per cent with the children she has worked with.

Debbie, whose grown-up sons are now a computer aided designer and an electrician, said: “It stopped my kids from struggling and it would help the teachers.”

Debbie says her system falls within the guidelines of the National Numeracy Project and she would like to teach it privately or take it into schools.

Kay Sutherland, headteacher of Harrowby and National schools, said she was impressed by Debbie when she gave her the chance to teach some of the children at the National over the summer term.

Mrs Sutherland said: “She has worked very hard with the children and the children loved it. She is a really good designer and this is another strategy. The only thing I told her was that I think it needs a bit of developing with quick recall. But it’s very intriguing.”

Debbie says she would like to teach privately or in schools using her system.

If any schools or individuals are interested in contacting Debbie about her system they can call her on 07505 208089 or email debbiewicks17@hotmail.co.uk

The temporary night time closure of Grantham A&E remains the focus of a lot of attention at the moment, and for good reason. We know how important the hospital is to local people and ULHT will continue to work hard in recruiting the staff we need to safely deliver services across all our hospitals. The department continues to provide a quality service to the patients who attend during the opening hours of 9am to 6.30pm.

The impact of the temporary changes to Grantham A&E opening hours on our other A&E departments at Lincoln and Pilgrim hospitals has been lower than expected. In fact, we haven’t seen an increase in attendances at either site.

The staff in all departments at Grantham Hospital have responded brilliantly in ensuring that this urgent change in service does not impact on the quality of patient care. They have worked tirelessly to ensure that the quality of patient care and experience across the whole site continues to improve.

Next month ULHT will be visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who will undertake a full inspection into the quality of services and patient care at all of our hospitals. They will measure us against their five key domains, are we safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led. On the last inspection the services on the Grantham site were identified as good. Our staff will be ready to show them all the amazing work and developments that go on at Grantham.

We continue to invest in our hospital and work has begun on refurbishing a building near the front of Grantham hospital to create a new dedicated ophthalmology unit which will offer expanded outpatient services and surgical procedures on the Grantham site. It is hoped that the new unit will take its first patients in November this year.

Dove Cottage Day Hospice in Stathern is joining forces with hospices across the UK to launch Hospice Care Week.

From Monday, October 3 to Thursday, October 6 Dove Cottage hopes to raise awareness of hospice care and address the misconceptions that people may have about what hospice care is.

It will be opening its doors from 2pm-3pm each day. There will be refreshments served including tea, coffee and cakes.

The hospice is also hosting an auction and table top sale on Saturday (October 1) from noon-4pm. For more details visit http://www.dovecottage.org/fundraising-2/fundraising-events-2/

My name is Steve Hughes and I live in Wrexham, North Wales.

I am writing because I think I may have a long lost sister living in, or around, Grantham.

My father, Edward Vincent Hughes, was stationed at Long Bennington during the war. He married a lass by the name of Marjorie Lewis Turton at Wesley Chapel, Bridge End Road, West Kesteven on September 18, 1943 when he was 21 or 22 years of age and Marjorie was 22.

Marjorie’s father was William Lewis Turton and I believe they lived at 1 Albion Place, Grantham.

The sad part is that I may have met my sister, if she was my sister, in Bala North Wales where I used to live in the early sixties. I remember my mum ushering us out into the garden so that the adults could talk about something important. That I remember vividly.

I also remember she had a Jack Russell dog by the name of Tiny, but that’s all I’ve got.

Every avenue I go down ends in a dead end, so I was wondering if your good readers could help.

My number is 07835468604 and my address is 7 The Laurels Acton, Wrexham, LL127NW.

Steve Hughes

Wrexham

North Wales

A Peterborough man is appealing for people to join the memorial service for a local war veteran in Grantham.

The funeral of Sgt Ray Johnson takes place at Grantham Crematorium today (Monday, September 26) at noon and a well-wisher is supporting efforts to transport veterans and supporters to the service.

Jay Beecher, a political campaigner for UKIP in Peterborough, said: “I’m trying to pack the service out. It’s so important.

“This is entirely non-political, and I’ll be giving lifts too and from Grantham crematorium all morning. I’ve got a fair few volunteers, but need one last push for more.”

Sgt Johnson passed away on September 3, a day short of his 96th birthday, and has only three living relatives.

He served as a Spitfire armourer on 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron from 1939 to 1945.

Anyone who can help should contact Jay Beecher at jaybeecher@live.co.uk

Pupils from five primary schools in Grantham are hoping to give the gift of sight to children in developing countries by collecting old and unwanted glasses for an international charity which recycles them.

The appeal, which is being led by Lunettes Opticians in Grantham, Sleaford and Ruskington, will involve children from local schools collecting the glasses on behalf of Vision Aid Overseas which has helped over over 13 million children and adults in developing countries to see.

Lunettes Opticians will also be collecting glasses in each of their practices and are pledging £2 to donate to Vision Aid Overseas for every eye examination carried out throughout October.

Tushar Majithia, managing director of Lunettes Opticians who is spearheading the appeal, said: “We are very privileged in this country that we all have access to sophisticated eye care. Eye health is intrinsic to so much, education, and employment being two examples.

“The reality is that what we take for granted doesn’t exist for many millions of people around the globe and our partnership with Vision Aid Overseas allows us to help in a small way.”

Schools taking part in the Lunettes Appeal include Barrowby Primary School, Allington with Sedgebrook Primary School, St Mary’s Primary School, Ingoldsby Primary School and St Sebastian’s Primary. Optometrists and staff from Lunettes Opticians will also be visiting several of the schools to discuss the importance of eye health with pupils.

Vison Aid Overseas is dedicated to transforming access to eye care services to enable children and adults to gain a valuable education, which in turn helps in the fight against poverty. Ten per cent of the world’s population – 670 million people – are disadvantaged by poor vision and a lack of glasses.

If anyone would like to donate their old or unwanted glasses to the appeal, do so at Lunettes in The George Centre, Grantham.

Car parks in Grantham and Stamford have won another award recognising their safety and security.

The 12 pay and display car parks in the two towns have once again been awarded the Park Mark Safer Parking Scheme award following their annual inspection.

The award shows that South Kesteven Distict Council’s car parks meet the high standards required that drivers expect and have active crime prevention measures which assists in the car parks having low levels of crime.

The news comes just days after the council was awarded the disabled parking accreditation from Disabled Motoring UK.

Executive member Councillor Nick Craft said: “We’re pleased to announce a further award for our car parks that shows we are maintaining good standards year on year.

“We pride ourselves on having accessible car parks close to our town centres in Stamford and Grantham that give peace of mind to drivers and that our facilities are among the safest places to park in South Kesteven.”

Peter Gravells, of the British Parking Association, said: “The awards demonstrate the commitment of everyone involved in the management and operation of the parking facilities to achieve the high standards set by the scheme’s criteria.

“They have managed to maintain these standards for a number of years and they should be proud of their achievements.”

A dozen Rivercare volunteers supported by Grantham firefighters carried out a successful clean-up of the River Witham on Saturday.

With the help of a large inflatable raft, the firefighters were able to collect rubbish from parts of the river which are normally inaccessible. At the same time they were able to undertake water rescue training. As a result the haul of rubbish was far greater than normal.

The collection included ten sacks of light rubbish (mainly bottles and cans), three shopping trolleys, a scooter, a vacuum cleaner, a bicycle, a suitcase, a wheelchair, and three road signs.

Grantham Rivercare is supported by Keep Britain Tidy, and sponsored by Anglian Water and Sainsbury’s.

The next clean up will be on Saturday, December 10.

Using mobile phones while driving rates as the worst habit among fellow motorists, according to a new report.

Other drivers using mobiles without a hands-free kit were noted by 70 per cent of those surveyed by Privilege Car Insurance.

65 per cent spotted other drivers driving too fast - although only 20 per cent of those questioned admitted to speeding themselves.

More than half saw drivers skipping lanes to get ahead or pulling out in front of other motorists.

Other irritations included drivers who took up too much space on the road and unnecessarily sounding their horns, while three per cent mentioned splashing pedestrians with puddles - although this was a habit that 16 per cent of Londoners confessed to.

Drivers from Bristol were most likely to own up to their own poor road manners, with 61 per cent admitting to bad driving habits.

Women over 55 were considered rated the worst in several areas including taking position in the wrong lane and driving too slowly. Male drivers were more likely to undertake, and cut corners.

Charlotte Fielding, head of Privilege Car Insurance, said: “Inconsiderate or careless driving are two of the main causes of accidents on our roads.

“Hopefully, the findings of this report will help remind people their actions on the road do have an impact on other drivers – it’s better to get there safely than risk injuring yourself or someone else. So take a deep breath, leave a safe distance between your vehicle and the car in front and drive at a safe speed.”

The worst-behaved drivers across the UK were rated in order:

1 Bristol

2 Liverpool

3 Norwich

4 Newcastle

5 Manchester

6 Southampton

7 Birmingham

8 Glasgow

9 Leeds

10 London